1950s
The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the 50s or Fifties) was a decade of the that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. By its end, the world had largely recovered from and the developed from its modest beginning in the late-1940s to a hot competition between the United States and the Soviet Union by the early-1960s. Clashes between and dominated the decade, especially in the . The conflicts included the in the beginnings of the decade and the beginning of the with the launch of . Along with increased testing of nuclear weapons (such as and ), this created a politically conservative climate. In the United States, the caused Congressional hearings by both houses in and was the prevailing sentiment in the United States throughout the decade. The beginning of in Africa and Asia took place in this decade and accelerated in the following decade. Politics and wars }} Wars * conflicts involving the influence of the rival superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States ** (1950–1953) – The war, which lasted from June 25, 1950, until the signing of the on July 27, 1953, started as a between and the Republic of Korea ( ). When it began, North and South Korea existed as provisional governments competing for control over the Korean peninsula, due to the by outside powers. While originally a civil war, it quickly escalated into a war between the Western powers under the led by the United States and its allies and the communist powers of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. On September 15, General conducted , an amphibious landing at the city of Inchon (Song Do port). The North Korean army collapsed, and within a few days, MacArthur's army retook (South Korea's capital). He then pushed north, capturing Pyongyang in October. Chinese intervention the following month drove UN forces south again. MacArthur then planned for a full-scale invasion of China, but this was against the wishes of President Truman and others who wanted a limited war. He was dismissed and replaced by General Matthew Ridgeway. The war then became a bloody stalemate for the next two and a half years while peace negotiations dragged on. The war left 33,742 American soldiers dead, 92,134 wounded, and 80,000 missing in action (MIA) or (POW). Estimates place at 1,000,000–1,400,000 dead or wounded, and 140,000 MIA or POW. ** The began in 1955. Di?m instituted a policy of death penalty against any communist activity in 1956. The began an assassination campaign in early 1957. An article by French scholar published in July 1958 concluded that a new war had begun. The first official large unit military action was on September 26, 1959, when the ambushed two ARVN companies. * (from the early 20th century) .}} ** (1956) – The was a war fought on ian territory in 1956. Following the nationalisation of the in 1956 by , the United Kingdom, France and subsequently invaded. The operation was a military success, but after the United States and Soviet Union united in opposition to the invasion, the invaders were forced to withdraw. This was seen as a major humiliation, especially for the two Western European countries, and symbolizes the beginning of the end of colonialism and the weakening of European global importance, specifically the collapse of the . * (1954–1962) – An important war, it was a complex conflict characterized by , fighting, against civilians, use of torture on both sides and operations by the . The war eventually led to the independence of from France. Internal conflicts becomes the leader of Cuba as a result of the }} * (1953–1959) – The 1959 overthrow of by , and other forces resulted in the creation of the first government in the Western hemisphere. * The began retaliating against the British in Kenya. This led to in Kenya, a British military victory, and the election of moderate nationalist as leader of Kenya. * The began in Rwanda in 1959 following the assault of politician by forces. This was the beginning of decades of ethnic violence in the country, which culminated in the . * – A massive, spontaneous popular uprising in the Soviet of against that country's Soviet-backed regime, inspired by political changes in Poland and the Soviet Union. The uprising, fought primarily by students and workers, managed to fight the invading Soviet Army to a standstill, and a new, pro-reform government took power. While the top Soviet leaders even considered withdrawing from Hungary entirely, they soon crushed the Revolution with a massive second invasion, killing thousands of Hungarians and sending hundreds of thousands more into exile. This was the largest act of internal dissent in the history of the , and its violent suppression served to further discredit the Soviet Union even among its erstwhile supporters. Decolonization and Independence * of former European s. The in particular faced conflict on two fronts within the , the and the First . The peacefully gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. ended in in 1958, left in 1954. The rival states of and were formed. and the also gained independence, effectively ending French presence in Southeast Asia. Elsewhere the and other African nations gained their independence from France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. * Large-scale in Africa first began in the 1950s. In 1951, became the first African country to gain independence in the decade, and in 1954 the began. 1956 saw , , and become independent, and the next year became the first n nation to gain independence. Prominent political events * – The (or Common Markets), the precursor of the , was established with the in 1957. * On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists staged an attempted assassination on U.S. President . The leader of the team had firearm experience and was his accomplice. They made their assault at the where President Truman and his family were staying. Torresola mortally wounded a White House policeman, , who shot Torresola dead before expiring himself. Collazo, as a co-conspirator in a felony that turned into a homicide, was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to death in 1952 but then his sentence was later commuted to life in prison. * On 7 July 1950, the first was promulgated by the and implemented over a period of several years. The passing of the Act contributed significantly to the period of institutionalised and in known as , which lasted from 1948 to 1991. One of the most famous uses of the Group Areas Act was the destruction of , a suburb of , which began on the 9th of February 1955. * Establishment of the , consisting of nations not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. , after the of 1959 and before the official of 1961}} Asia * The U.S. ended its occupation of Japan, which became fully independent. Japan held democratic elections and recovered economically. * Within a year of its establishment, the People's Republic of China had reclaimed Tibet and intervened in the Korean War, causing years of hostility and estrangement from the United States. Mao admired Stalin and rejected the changes in Moscow after Stalin's death in 1953, leading to growing tension with the Soviet Union. * In 1950–1953 France tried to contain a growing communist insurgency led by . After their defeat in the in 1954 France granted independence to the nations of , and . At the France and the Communists agreed to divide Vietnam and hold elections in 1956. The U.S. and South Vietnam rejected the Geneva accords and the division became permanent. * The , which had started officially in 1927 and continued until the had ended on May 7, 1950. It resulted in the previous incumbent government in China, the , retreating to the islands of Taiwan and until the . Africa * Africa experienced the beginning of large-scale top-down economic interventions in the 1950s that failed to cause improvement and led to charitable exhaustion by the as the century went on. The widespread corruption was not dealt with and war, disease, and famine continued to be constant problems in the region. * Egyptian general overthrew the Egyptian monarchy, establishing himself as President of . Nasser became an influential leader in the Middle East in the 1950s, leading Arab states into war with , becoming a major leader of the and promoting . * In 1957, , after a series of negotiations with the then British empire, secured the independence of Ghana. Ghana was hitherto referred to as Gold Coast, a colony of the . Americas * In the 1950s, America was the center of covert and overt conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. Their varying collusion with national, populist, and elitist interests destabilized the region. The United States in 1954. In 1958, the military dictatorship of Venezuela was overthrown. This continued a pattern of regional revolution and warfare making extensive use of . * In 1957, Dr. came to power in an election in . He later declared himself president for life, and ruled until his death in 1971. * In 1959, (3 January) and (21 August) became the 49th and 50th states respectively of the United States. * In 1959, overthrew the regime of in , establishing a government in the country. Although Castro initially sought aid from the US, he was rebuffed and later turned to the Soviet Union. * signed in 1959 by Canada and the United States creating a unified North American air defense system. * was built in 41 months, from 1956, and on April 21, 1960, became the capital of Brazil Europe * With the help of the , post-war reconstruction succeeded, with some countries (including West Germany) adopting free market capitalism while others adopted Keynesian-policy welfare states. Europe continued to be divided into Western and Soviet bloc countries. The geographical point of this division came to be called the . * Because previous attempts for a unified state failed, Germany remained divided into two states: the capitalist in the west and the socialist in the east. The Federal Republic identified itself as the legal successor to the and was obliged in paying war reparations. The GDR, however, denounced the fascist past completely and did not recognize itself as responsible for paying reparations on behalf of the Nazi regime. The GDR's more harsh attitude in suppressing and sentiment lingering in the post-Nazi society resulted in increased emigration to the west. * While the United States military maintained its bases in western Europe, the Soviet Union maintained its bases in the east. In 1953, , the leader of the Soviet Union, died. This led to the rise of , who denounced Stalin and pursued a more liberal domestic and foreign policy, stressing peaceful competition with the West rather than overt hostility. There were anti-Stalinist uprisings in East Germany and Poland in 1953 and Hungary in 1956. Category:Contemporary history